Webdesigner need support!

Ever had that client who claims he/she is a top webdesigner, but actually don’t have a clue about CSS or HTML not to mention JS? It is somehow funny to have those guys requesting support all the time. How do you handle that? Do you help them or ignore them? I mean from a serious perspective, isn’t that a insult to the real webdesigners?

I actually started a thread a while ago about this asking if these people have the right to call themselves developers or designers.

In our opinion it is degrading to professional developers, especially as I would bet that most people who buy and edit work from here rarely tell anyone it is a template.

Perhaps the most irritating thing is that as you rightfully said they then need support, but also because they are probably doing it on the cheap by using a template then it makes people think that what we do (properly) is a cheap and easy service that does not warrant proper fees.

The funniest for us is (and we are not getting into recent approval discussions etc), that there are a number of people on those threads saying “work is not unqiue enough”, “there is not enough choice” or the best... “Our client requires something different – so YOU need to create more creative designs”. Because of course even modifying themes, let alone creating ACTUAL work is beyond them

It’s possible they are literally web DESIGNERS , and don’t usually need to know the development side (I know HTML etc aren’t really complicated but just playing devil’s advocate here, definition of “designer” seems to vary quite a bit), and they’ve just bought a theme to use on their own site since they don’t know anything about developing one themselves.

infuse01 said
Ever had that client who claims he/she is a top webdesigner, but actually don’t have a clue about CSS or HTML not to mention JS? It is somehow funny to have those guys requesting support all the time. How do you handle that? Do you help them or ignore them? I mean from a serious perspective, isn’t that a insult to the real webdesigners?
Looking forward to your answers

a front end developer is the one who must know HTML CSS and JS

a web designer has nothing to do with that, of course usually there two profession can overlap but if you look at professional level then a front end developer won’t sit down and design in photoshop and the designer will not touch the code, since they are specialized.

Whatever their profession is, I’ll never find an excuse for people asking for small code changes/hints for their clients. Who takes on clients and doesn’t know how to change the color of a button, because they can’t find the CSS file (let alone the line in that file)...?

I fall into that category of ‘web designer’ who configures Wordpress themes. I think HTML and CSS is a must and can’t see how even a ‘configurer’ like myself can do without them as I prefer to always work in the HTML window in WP and often make CSS tweaks to the theme. I don’t know JS and have a basic understanding of PHP though and I always mean to delve deeper but haven’t gotten around to it. If I need help I’ll only ask an author privately as a favor and only if they care to.

Not knowing HTML and CSS is doing a disservice to a client’s website imo. I’ll be the first to agree that we’re already getting away with murder using these great themes, we can at least learn basic coding.

I think if you are a webdesigner and create pixel-perfect designs, basic CSS knowledge is a must as most developers do not have an eye for pixel-perfect styling details (margins, padding, text effects etc.).

nonexistent said
a front end developer is the one who must know HTML CSS and JS
a web designer has nothing to do with that, of course usually there two profession can overlap but if you look at professional level then a front end developer won’t sit down and design in photoshop and the designer will not touch the code, since they are specialized.

Don’t agree. A Webdesigner is a mixture of a designer and a developer. It’s exactly the kind who builds up a website on his/her own – without the need of a freelancer or anyone else. You’re talking about Frontend Developer and Graphic Designer or maybe even UI Designer. But the kind of people who sells websites to their clients for low and claiming they are webdesigner are IMHO only Web Consultants or “Configurer” at the very best.

I agree fully with DigitalImpact. I always need to laugh if someone wants on-site support and then I read “Webdesigner and SEO Guru” or similar. I ask myself always how those guys are going to support their clients in the long run. It’s just weird :/